Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask His Majesty's Government, with regard to their press release “Government backs SME builders to get Britain building” published on 28 May, how they plan to allocate the £10 million to local authorities to fund more specialists to speed up environmental assessments.

The funding is being allocated to all local planning authorities, county councils and combined authorities in England. The uses to which the funding can be put are broad and there is no definitive list as requirements will differ across authorities. Some of this funding may be used to help expand the capacity of ecologist and planning teams, but ultimately it is for the local authorities to determine how they spend the funding depending on local circumstances.